Image Credit: Ernesto Diaz – Stream Punk Entertainment
The New York City Football Club added yet another tie to their curious unbeaten streak as a late goal by Braian Cufre at the 81st minute gave the team it’s 6th tie in the last 7 matches with a 1-1 draw against visiting Charlotte FC. After drawing in 5 straight the team finally broke through with a 1-0 win over Montreal on the road on Saturday, but followed it up with yet another draw after coming out of the gate strong, only to fall behind 17 minutes in after a defensive lapse caused McKinzie Gaines to have a right footage shot to give the road Charlotte club an early 1-0 lead. Head coach Nick Cushing talked about that familiarity: “I think for us we’ve almost become well versed and experienced when things are not going our way. You know, we had that same game in Cincinnati where we dominated the whole game and they went into halftime one nil, the home game at Yankee Stadium. For us, I think what we’ve learned is that in this moment, we just have to revert to our team principles and the principles of how we play and who we are on the field.”
In a match where NYCFC pummeled Charlotte in threats, outshooting Charlotte a full 21-3 (and 5-2 on net) it Cufre’s shot was his third goal of the year and badly needed to at least come out with a point. Had they pulled out the win, the team would have jumped from 11th into 8th place and a playoff spot, but for now remain in 11th.
Next up will be their 3rd match in an 8 day stretch as the team travels to Columbus to take on the Crew. Columbus is a tough squad at home, going 8-1-2 in 11 matches.
4 NOTES:
1) This was the second time this season that NYCFC had 21 shots in a match. The other time was a 3-1 win over FC Dallas at home back on April 22.
2) This was the first match against Charlotte where NYCFC did not come away with a loss, losing 3-2, 1-0 and 3-1 in the other three matches.
3) Talking ties. The record for most ties in a season in MLS history is 18. With the New York City Football Club having tied in 6 of the last 7 matches now sits at the double digit mark in ties for the season at 10. Additionally the club’s record for ties on a season was 10 back in 2019. With a full dozen matches to go before the end of the year breaking that record feels like a near certainty.
4) Although Columbus has only lost one match at home this year, should the Cityzens come away with three points they will jump to 9th in the East.
About the author – Scott Churchson has been an actor in every way for the past 13 years, from BG to stand in to stunts and principal, a sports writer for the past 4 and is one of the people that created Stream Punk Entertainment. He’s married to a veterinarian, has a cat with three working legs, a mother-in-law who just moved in and is just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe.
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